Tipping. Particularly in the food service industry. Some hate it, some thrive on it, and some simply feel obligated through social pressure. Whatever the situation, tipping is quite a controversial topic - so let's have a little debate on the subject.
Should you be expected to tip?
Back in ye olden days, tipping your waiter/waitress was simply a form of gratitude. Have a pleasant meal? Enjoy a nice conversation with your waiter/waitress? Leave a few bucks on the table when you leave. Things changed however, when the wages for waiters and waitresses decreased - as compensation for their tips. Tips steadily transformed from a simple "thanks" to more of a requirement.
Today, wages are a little bit of a tricky thing. I live in CA, and in CA all waiters and waitresses are required to be paid the state minimum wage (roughly $9 an hour) with their tips merely a bonus. However I only know CA to enforce this rule, so to my knowledge it's very likely that waiters and waitresses everywhere else could still be making only a few dollars an hour with tips being their main source of income. Some restaurants will enforce a hybrid of the two, where if the employee hasn't made more than the minimum wage through tips they will pay the rest, while some restaurants will refuse tips completely but rather force an additional % on your bill to distribute to the employees.
But moving beyond the wages themselves, part of the controversy that I always see isn't with the wages. It's with the social expectations that come with tipping. A lot of people that I've heard/read have the mentality that if you don't tip "don't go out", while others feel it shouldn't be their responsibility to pay for the restaurant's employees. Etc.
I've always found to the subject of tipping to be interesting, as it very quickly can bring out the greed and hypocrisy out of people - you would likely gladly accept a $20 tip if you're the waiter, but would hesitate to give the $20 tip as the guest.
Personally, I'm in the camp that I should not be expected to pay an additional fee to compensate for the employers lack of payment. Let alone the fact that, if anyone should be tipped, it's the chef and not the waiter, the concept of having to pay for food as well as pay for the service seperately just makes no sense to me. If I'm already paying $10-15 for a burger that I can easily make myself or get elsewhere for half the price, then why is the service considered a premium charge? In my mind, if you accept a job - in this case a waiter or waitress - then you should be willing to do your job respectfully without holding out an empty can begging for spare change.
To me, the notion that if you don't tip, or even don't tip well, that your server will act accordingly is just completely unprofessional. I would even argue the same for bartenders, as people typically say to tip your bartender well otherwise you'll have an inferior service (such as not being prioritized) - but at least for bartenders I can kind of see the merit, what with having to deal with drunks for hours on end.
Now, to my surprise (and grief) I often still do find myself tipping. But it's not out of desire, but rather out of pure awkwardness. Having waiters/waitresses staring down my neck as I sign the check, mentally deciding to leave the "tip" line blank or not is the complete opposite of what I want when I go out to eat.
But what are your opinions on the subject of tipping? Is tipping even a social standard for some of you?
Should you be expected to tip?
Back in ye olden days, tipping your waiter/waitress was simply a form of gratitude. Have a pleasant meal? Enjoy a nice conversation with your waiter/waitress? Leave a few bucks on the table when you leave. Things changed however, when the wages for waiters and waitresses decreased - as compensation for their tips. Tips steadily transformed from a simple "thanks" to more of a requirement.
Today, wages are a little bit of a tricky thing. I live in CA, and in CA all waiters and waitresses are required to be paid the state minimum wage (roughly $9 an hour) with their tips merely a bonus. However I only know CA to enforce this rule, so to my knowledge it's very likely that waiters and waitresses everywhere else could still be making only a few dollars an hour with tips being their main source of income. Some restaurants will enforce a hybrid of the two, where if the employee hasn't made more than the minimum wage through tips they will pay the rest, while some restaurants will refuse tips completely but rather force an additional % on your bill to distribute to the employees.
But moving beyond the wages themselves, part of the controversy that I always see isn't with the wages. It's with the social expectations that come with tipping. A lot of people that I've heard/read have the mentality that if you don't tip "don't go out", while others feel it shouldn't be their responsibility to pay for the restaurant's employees. Etc.
I've always found to the subject of tipping to be interesting, as it very quickly can bring out the greed and hypocrisy out of people - you would likely gladly accept a $20 tip if you're the waiter, but would hesitate to give the $20 tip as the guest.
Personally, I'm in the camp that I should not be expected to pay an additional fee to compensate for the employers lack of payment. Let alone the fact that, if anyone should be tipped, it's the chef and not the waiter, the concept of having to pay for food as well as pay for the service seperately just makes no sense to me. If I'm already paying $10-15 for a burger that I can easily make myself or get elsewhere for half the price, then why is the service considered a premium charge? In my mind, if you accept a job - in this case a waiter or waitress - then you should be willing to do your job respectfully without holding out an empty can begging for spare change.
To me, the notion that if you don't tip, or even don't tip well, that your server will act accordingly is just completely unprofessional. I would even argue the same for bartenders, as people typically say to tip your bartender well otherwise you'll have an inferior service (such as not being prioritized) - but at least for bartenders I can kind of see the merit, what with having to deal with drunks for hours on end.
Now, to my surprise (and grief) I often still do find myself tipping. But it's not out of desire, but rather out of pure awkwardness. Having waiters/waitresses staring down my neck as I sign the check, mentally deciding to leave the "tip" line blank or not is the complete opposite of what I want when I go out to eat.
But what are your opinions on the subject of tipping? Is tipping even a social standard for some of you?
).
